The present invention relates to a plucking means and specifically to a plectrum for actuating the strings of a guitar-like instrument.
A conventional guitar is plucked by hand or with a handheld device called a plectrum to produce a distinctive musical sound. The guitar in its classical conception is a musical instrument which has six strings tightly strung over a wooden body forming a sounding board.
The present invention is in a guitar-like instrument having 25 or more strings drawn across a wooden resonating body and tuned to a standard piano scale.
A mechanism was needed to actuate the strings in a manner simulating the sound of a guitar. However, the striking mechanism of a piano is unsuited to such a guitar-like instrument, since the sound so produced is characteristically distinct from the sound of a guitar plectrum. Moreover, while various plectrum apparatus are known to the art, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,453,922, to O'Brien, which relates to a plectrum for a harpsicord, the particular combination of features herein disclosed provides the desired movement to more accurately simulate the distinctive guitar sound.